A bit late...

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

...but as with UE, I think praise is always welcome.

So, I recently played the Standoff episodes for the frist time and I am more than impressed. Really well done, just everything. I think Bradshaw looks really cool and I love Dragon's phrase "Yeah, I love it when you do that" (is it a reused phrase from WCP/SOPS I missed or forgot, or is it newly made?).
I really had to get used to the slow moving bolts though, my accuracy rarely reached 75%, though my ships damage was seldom less . (96% damage on "Storming the rock"). Did the bolts (better: balls) really fly that slowly in WC2?
I played and beat it on "Ace" (with the occasional re-try of course) but I found the most difficult was defending my fellow Gladii when attacking the Kilrathi capship.

Great work really!

Though a question: on my system, sometimes the briefing isn't read out aloud and sometimes only parts of it. Is this intentional in any way? Same goes with cutscenes that are not "Talking Head" sequences.

BTW: I don't think I found any Easter Egg but I was bad at this already with UE

 

[Quarto]

Yes, indeed, we're always glad to hear from people who liked the game .

(...and even gladder to hear comments from people who didn't like it)

.Dragon's phrase "Yeah, I love it when you do that" (is it a reused phrase from WCP/SOPS I missed or forgot, or is it newly made?).

If I recall correctly, Dragon is the female pilot we recycled from WC4.

Though a question: on my system, sometimes the briefing isn't read out aloud and sometimes only parts of it. Is this intentional in any way? Same goes with cutscenes that are not "Talking Head" sequences.

It's definitely not intentional. It is a bug, related to the way WCP handles sound - sometimes, if you have more than one sound being played, one of the sounds will cut out. I've never experienced the sound loss in briefings, but I've seen it once or twice in the cutscenes. Anyway, it's random, so there's a chance that it'll be better if you try again.

 

[BattleDog]

I have to second the sentiments above, and the sound bug.

Further, I wish to say that your Rapier now falls between the WCIII Excalibur and the WCIV Bearcat as my second favorite WC fighter ever.

Soundly beating the Vampire, Arrow and T-Bolt.

 

[Ijuin]

75% gun accuracy is pretty good--I normally don't get more than 50% when I play, even on Rookie level.

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Yes, indeed, we're always glad to hear from people who liked the game .

(...and even gladder to hear comments from people who didn't like it)

Well, if you want some criticism...hmm. There comes nothing to my mind except the self-made Kilrathi voiceovers: while it was sure nice to hear some reused taunts from WC2 and Priv, I found the Kilrathi voice effect from UE definately better. Especially the "The victory is yours, human!" doesn't sound very Kilrathi IMHO.
Wasn't it possible the reuse the original taunt voices from WC2/Priv or did you chose deliberately not to use them (perhaps you thought the sometimes rather shrill voices like "You cannot defeat the Drakhai!" didn't fit the WC3/P Kilrathi head style)?

And out of curiosity: why did you give the Talon only 380kps instead of 400kps?

Edit: one more criticism, though it's more a gameplay issue: I found the way the Raptor fires its Mass Drivers makes them pretty useless. Why not let them fire a bit downwards?

If I recall correctly, Dragon is the female pilot we recycled from WC4.

Hmm, don't remember her. I hope I get to fly with her more often in the future.

It's definitely not intentional. It is a bug, related to the way WCP handles sound - sometimes, if you have more than one sound being played, one of the sounds will cut out. I've never experienced the sound loss in briefings, but I've seen it once or twice in the cutscenes. Anyway, it's random, so there's a chance that it'll be better if you try again.

So because a "beep" indicates reaching a navpoint in the ICIS is played, WCP cancels out the speech? Bad management of priorities.

So all the cutscenes/mission briefings/intros and extros are with full speech?
Because whereas I could, by hitting the "replay" button during briefings, get some more speech (though not all), there are cutscenes and, especially annoying, the intro, where I never get any speech, except maybe the first phrase.
But it adds to the nostalgic flair.
(BTW: excellent choice of music! It goes very well with the WC2 feel)

(...)
Further, I wish to say that your Rapier now falls between the WCIII Excalibur and the WCIV Bearcat as my second favorite WC fighter ever.
(...)

I always found the WC2 Rapier to be the most beautiful fighter in the whole WC universe - and Standoff confirmed me in this feeling.

75% gun accuracy is pretty good--I normally don't get more than 50% when I play, even on Rookie level.

Well, I only got in maybe two or three missions. Missions in which I fired less guns and used more missiles.

BTW: how many endings are there in Standoff so far? I got the obvious two different Sparrow endings. Is there more to explore?

 

[Quarto]

Wasn't it possible the reuse the original taunt voices from WC2/Priv or did you chose deliberately not to use them (perhaps you thought the sometimes rather shrill voices like "You cannot defeat the Drakhai!" didn't fit the WC3/P Kilrathi head style)?

Well, we were already reusing the WC3 taunts... and we didn't want every pilot to be in a different style .

And out of curiosity: why did you give the Talon only 380kps instead of 400kps?

Uh... I don't remember. I believe it may have had something to do with the medium fighter backstory we made up for it (keep in mind, BTW, that the stats listed for the Talon on the website are not accurate, and are not meant to be accurate - they're supposed to reflect the stats of the 2642 Confed version of the Talon). In any case, I can tell you that the pirate Talons do actually have a top speed of 400kps - they're pretty much identical to the Priv Talons, in fact.

Edit: one more criticism, though it's more a gameplay issue: I found the way the Raptor fires its Mass Drivers makes them pretty useless. Why not let them fire a bit downwards?

Unfortunately, the convergence patch only converges guns on the horizontal plane. I'm sure vertical convergence would at this point be dead easy to implement, but I don't know if we'd have space for it - for every convergence angle, you need a separate gun variant, and WCP's gun file has only a limited number of slots.

In any case, IMO, the awful mass drivers make the Raptor feel more like an obsolete piece of junk... which is precisely what it's supposed to be, circa 2668 .

So all the cutscenes/mission briefings/intros and extros are with full speech?
Because whereas I could, by hitting the "replay" button during briefings, get some more speech (though not all), there are cutscenes and, especially annoying, the intro, where I never get any speech, except maybe the first phrase.

Hmm. What are your computer's stats? We've never really looked at it from that angle, but I wonder if this bug doesn't occur depending on the computer - although I don't see what the cause would be, given that I've played Standoff on all manner of junk .

BTW: how many endings are there in Standoff so far? I got the obvious two different Sparrow endings. Is there more to explore?

There are three endings in the prologue - two winning endings, and one losing ending (if you defect to the pirates... my least-favourite ending, because it's so damned cheap ). Oh, and I suppose the "you're a loser" email you get if you lose enough ships to abort the operation counts as a second losing ending. So, that makes five.

In episode two, there are two endings - one leads to the winning path version of episode three, and the other... well, to the losing path version. The Sparrow thing doesn't really come into play as far as the endings are concerned by this point. It affects all the Sparrow and Spoons-related scenes and emails... but since we're at war, personal issues affect the player's path much less than his performance does.

 

[Eder]

There are three endings in the prologue (...) Oh, and I suppose the "you're a loser" email you get if you lose enough ships to abort the operation counts as a second losing ending. So, that makes five.

Stange math.

 

[KillerWave]

Nah, Q mind just works like this...
(0+1) =1, (1+1)=2, (2+1)=3, (3+2)=5...
so you have: 1, 2, 3, 5.

 

[Quarto]

Uh, yeah... I, uh, meant the other "five"... you know, the one sometimes called "four" .

 

[BattleDog]

Oh, by the by, will their be any Rapier missions in EPIII, like maybe the whole episode?

 

[Eder]

I'm not sure if it's the whole episode... but there'll definitely be Rapier missions.

(We just might force you to fly a bomber, you know, in a bombing mission or something. )

 

[BattleDog]

I have no objection to heavy fighters with torpedos. So if thats one of those Sabre missions thats fine. Currently not a fan of the crossbow though.

I mean it would be fine if it had lots of missiles, or long range guns, or a 'burner but you get nothing. The whole dash should just be one big button marked EJECT.

 

[Quarto]

No Sabres in episode 3, I fear - you will get to fly them in just about every second mission (or even more frequently ) in episodes 4 and 5, so we want to give everyone this one last opportunity to... ah, enjoy the Gladius .

(but don't worry - most Gladius missions allow the player to choose either the Gladius or the Rapier)

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Well, we were already reusing the WC3 taunts... and we didn't want every pilot to be in a different style .

Sure that. But what I meant: couldn't you use the WC2/Priv taunt sound and combine it with a WCP Kilrathi head?
And where's that comic cap ship Kilrathi head from? It looks very cool!

Uh... I don't remember. I believe it may have had something to do with the medium fighter backstory we made up for it (keep in mind, BTW, that the stats listed for the Talon on the website are not accurate, and are not meant to be accurate - they're supposed to reflect the stats of the 2642 Confed version of the Talon). In any case, I can tell you that the pirate Talons do actually have a top speed of 400kps - they're pretty much identical to the Priv Talons, in fact.

Ok. I didn't take the number from the website but from the simulator when you get to fly the Talon.

Unfortunately, the convergence patch only converges guns on the horizontal plane. I'm sure vertical convergence would at this point be dead easy to implement, but I don't know if we'd have space for it - for every convergence angle, you need a separate gun variant, and WCP's gun file has only a limited number of slots.

In any case, IMO, the awful mass drivers make the Raptor feel more like an obsolete piece of junk... which is precisely what it's supposed to be, circa 2668 .

I see, a pity. Such a unworthy end for the poor Raptor.

Hmm. What are your computer's stats? We've never really looked at it from that angle, but I wonder if this bug doesn't occur depending on the computer - although I don't see what the cause would be, given that I've played Standoff on all manner of junk .

Ugh, I played it on my girlfreind's PC so I am not sure about its stats but I think it's a :

AMD Athlon 2600+
512 MB RAM
with a Radeon 9200 video card.

There are three endings in the prologue - two winning endings, and one losing ending (if you defect to the pirates... my least-favourite ending, because it's so damned cheap ). Oh, and I suppose the "you're a loser" email you get if you lose enough ships to abort the operation counts as a second losing ending. So, that makes five.

In episode two, there are two endings - one leads to the winning path version of episode three, and the other... well, to the losing path version. The Sparrow thing doesn't really come into play as far as the endings are concerned by this point. It affects all the Sparrow and Spoons-related scenes and emails... but since we're at war, personal issues affect the player's path much less than his performance does.

Ach, I'll have to play again then. Too bad the small window of opportunity I had to play (and post) is closing pretty fast. Well, in that case you'll hear from me again some months after Episode 3 was released.
But since posting here and playing WC got me addicted rather quickly time after time again - who knows.

Nevertheless: great mod!

 

[Quarto]

Sure that. But what I meant: couldn't you use the WC2/Priv taunt sound and combine it with a WCP Kilrathi head?

Yes, we could - but then we'd have some cats sounding like WC2 Kilrathi, some like Priv Kilrathi, some like our Kilrathi, and some like WC3 Kilrathi. The WC2 Kilrathi in particular would not fit in too well - while all the other Kilrathi have low, raspy voices, the WC2 cats were shrill.

And where's that comic cap ship Kilrathi head from? It looks very cool!

Eder made it, but it is based on existing images. Hardcore WC fans will have no trouble working out which images in particular it's based on .

Ok. I didn't take the number from the website but from the simulator when you get to fly the Talon.

Yep, that's the Militia Talon.

 

[Ijuin]

I see, a pity. Such a unworthy end for the poor Raptor.

Well, the Sabre does equal or outperform the Raptor in everything except shield strength. It has better guns, better missiles, more maneuverability, a smaller profile, and a turret. It was probably the introduction of the Sabre that made the Raptor obsolete.

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Yes, we could - but then we'd have some cats sounding like WC2 Kilrathi, some like Priv Kilrathi, some like our Kilrathi, and some like WC3 Kilrathi. The WC2 Kilrathi in particular would not fit in too well - while all the other Kilrathi have low, raspy voices, the WC2 cats were shrill.

Sorry, I was the one who misunderstood your post then, I thought you meant visual style.
I thought so regarding the WC2 taunts. But there were some dark Kilrathi voices too in WC2: IIRC, Thrakhath, Khasra, Kur and Rakti had dark voices, as well as the helmet-less Kilrathi (often in cap ships). But never mind of course, it's good as it is.
Though personally I found the "You cannot defeat the Drakhai!" from WC2 was a very nice panicked voice.

Eder made it, but it is based on existing images. Hardcore WC fans will have no trouble working out which images in particular it's based on .

Now it's already been a while but from my memory it looked like Bhurak Starkiller with maybe a touch Baktosh Redclaw?

Yep, that's the Militia Talon.

Ah. Cool, I didn't pay attention if they had different paint schemes as well. I though all Talons were the same, since the wepon's loadout was the same - or wasn't it the same? Damn, I didn't pay enough attention. I think they all had 2 MD and 1 Particle...

Well, the Sabre does equal or outperform the Raptor in everything except shield strength. It has better guns, better missiles, more maneuverability, a smaller profile, and a turret. It was probably the introduction of the Sabre that made the Raptor obsolete.

Sure, the Sabre does surpass the Raptor already by stats - so no need to further down the Raptor to complete non-usefulness by giving it crappy gun placements. That's unworthy.

But of course, if it's a game limitation nothing can be done.

 

[Quarto]

Now it's already been a while but from my memory it looked like Bhurak Starkiller with maybe a touch Baktosh Redclaw?

It's a mix of Bakhtosh Redclaw, Prince Thrakhath, and a common housecat, actually. So basically, Standoff's Kilrathi comm officers are 2/3rds royalty, 1/3rd housecat .

Ah. Cool, I didn't pay attention if they had different paint schemes as well. I though all Talons were the same, since the wepon's loadout was the same - or wasn't it the same? Damn, I didn't pay enough attention. I think they all had 2 MD and 1 Particle...

Yes, IIRC the loadout is the same.

Sure, the Sabre does surpass the Raptor already by stats - so no need to further down the Raptor to complete non-usefulness by giving it crappy gun placements. That's unworthy.

Well, it's really not our fault - we wanted all the fighters to actually be made in the correct scale, and WC1's fighters, as you recall, were positively huge (Raptor - 36 metres). So, the mass drivers ended up probably about ten metres above and to the side of the centre line... which doesn't help when you're trying to hit an 8 metre Sartha.

 

[Eder]

Ah. Cool, I didn't pay attention if they had different paint schemes as well. I though all Talons were the same...

There are indeed different paint schemes - the militia Talon has red markings, the pirate talon has no markings and a funny colored patchy-looking hull (and of course, the retro Talon is all white with the eye painted on the sides).

Well, it's really not our fault - we wanted all the fighters to actually be made in the correct scale, and WC1's fighters, as you recall, were positively huge (Raptor - 36 metres). So, the mass drivers ended up probably about ten metres above and to the side of the centre line... which doesn't help when you're trying to hit an 8 metre Sartha.

Yup, the distance between the Raptor's mass drivers wasn't us deliberately trying to make it even more crappy than it already was - it was me scaling the ship to match the WC1 info, and then placing the gun hardpoints in front of where the barrels ended up.

The convergence patch was invented to try to make this less of an issue, but there's still the issue of vertical distance (which we didn't patch at all, since the Raptor would be the only ship to use it) and also the issue that since the convergence isn't adaptive, the guns are still useless at very short or very long ranges.

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

It's a mix of Bakhtosh Redclaw, Prince Thrakhath, and a common housecat, actually. So basically, Standoff's Kilrathi comm officers are 2/3rds royalty, 1/3rd housecat .

There are indeed different paint schemes - the militia Talon has red markings, the pirate talon has no markings and a funny colored patchy-looking hull (and of course, the retro Talon is all white with the eye painted on the sides).

Cool - guess I was too busy evading those particle shots to observe that.

Well, it's really not our fault - we wanted all the fighters to actually be made in the correct scale, and WC1's fighters, as you recall, were positively huge (Raptor - 36 metres).

Yup, the distance between the Raptor's mass drivers wasn't us deliberately trying to make it even more crappy than it already was - it was me scaling the ship to match the WC1 info, and then placing the gun hardpoints in front of where the barrels ended up.
The convergence patch was invented to try to make this less of an issue, but there's still the issue of vertical distance (which we didn't patch at all, since the Raptor would be the only ship to use it) and also the issue that since the convergence isn't adaptive, the guns are still useless at very short or very long ranges.

Yeah, as I said: you're not to blame, as you explained it's a game limitation.
Still, poor Raptor.

So, the mass drivers ended up probably about ten metres above and to the side of the centre line... which doesn't help when you're trying to hit an 8 metre Sartha.

Of course, they were made to hit flying pancakes and 32m Jalthis!